1996 Corvette Build

T

TheTodd

Noob
So this one is going to be a slow moving build but I thought I’d at least share what I’m doing with you guys. This isn’t an SQ build in the strictest definition. While I am interested in having good tonality, true imaging & sound-staging is not a priority. Honestly, the main priority is to be able to enjoy music while being heard over the engine/exhaust and with the windows down and, on very rare occasions, with the top off.

Here’s the car:
View attachment 8683
As stated in the title it’s a 96, with the LT4 Grand Sport motor & 6spd. I’ve already installed a muffler delete exhaust kit and intake parts are currently being shipped.

Currently the system consists of a Pioneer AVH-4400BH running to a PPI ion 5ch amp which powers Dayton AMT tweeters, Dayton 4.5” carbon fiber mids & Dayton 6.5” subwoofers.

If you’re familiar at all with these cars then you’ll know that there really is almost NO room to put anything. I originally wanted a completely stock appearance so I modified the front Bose enclosures to fit the mids/tweets and fit the subs in the factory rear enclosures and dropped the amp in the cubby behind the passenger seat. Photos will be following but the results were not what I expected so a complete redo, new install will be forthcoming. My BIGGEST complaint is the lack of bass while driving. I’m not sure if it’s cancellation from the exhaust or if the subs just can’t keep up. Everything is fine while at idle or with the engine off.

So here’s current install

Head unit
View attachment 8684
This took a LOT of trimming and adjustments to fit properly and to get the screen to not bind opening & closing.

Here’s the OEM Bose enclosure with a 4.5” mid & 2”? tweeter. As you can see the tabs are broken off on one side so mounting them back in had to get a little creative with some metal plumbers strapping.
View attachment 8685

Here’s the new mids/tweets in the modified enclosure. It looks kinda ragged but they sealed up nicely using the factory speaker gaskets. And believe it or not the enclosure is actually ported (the rounded part under the tweeter), which is also why I thought I’d try this way first. Not TOO bad but you can only get so much out of a 4” speaker. Drivers side is pictured but the passenger side looks exactly the same... down to the broken tabs.
View attachment 8686

On to the subs... The OEM rear location is actually a sealed area of the rear fender.
View attachment 8687
I mounted the Dayton in place of the OEM driver and you can also see the port attached to the baffle. Unfortunately I have no idea of the actual size of the enclosure so I can’t tell what it’s tuned to. Not sure if that contributes to my lack of bass but I’m doubtful because, again, it sounds great when not driving.
View attachment 8688View attachment 8689View attachment 8690
 
The power wire was a little tricky because, yet again, there’s literally no room. The engine compartment is just jam-packed. I didn’t even know about this until I bought the car but to even access the battery you have to remove a panel between the drivers door & front tire. So I mounted the fuse holder to the battery tray directly below the battery.

View attachment 8691
Another view to give an idea of location
View attachment 8692
I didn’t get a final hooked-up photo but there’s a total of 8” between the batt terminal & fuse holder. Honestly, you wouldn’t be able to see much even if I DID get a pic.

The power wire enters the cabin via a grommet in the door jamb above the OEM boot. I know some people just cringed when they read door jamb but remember it’s RIGHT behind the battery. If you use the grouping of red wires in the above pic & below pic as reference you’ll see it’s easily accessible, a short distance, as well as having ZERO chances of pinching on anything.
View attachment 8693

I tried getting a pic of the amp in the storage cubby but none of them really came out well. Now I guess it’s on to the rebuild. I’m not sure if I want to reuse the Dayton’s for the front stage or something else. I have 2 other options that I have laying around from past installs in other cars. Both actually have VERY little playing time and are practically brand new.
View attachment 8694

I think I can get either to fit with a little work. I’ve been really biased towards the Alpine 6x9s but I’m not sure if the limited space will get me the increased bass presence I’m looking for (and the reason I’m biased towards using them). The Infinity’s are 2ohm so I’ll get a little more power out of the amp which is a good thing as well. Also keep in mind that the front speakers have to play THROUGH the carpet...
View attachment 8696

I know it’d be easy to top-mount the Alpines to the OEM grille but that would involve cutting the OEM grille and finding parts for these cars is getting harder, especially the older they get, and I always like to be able to return them to stock if I ever decide to sell. I can get new grilles but they’re over $100 and I don’t want to have to buy them yet if I don’t need to. And the Infinity’s didn’t come with grilles

Anyone have any experience with these cars? Or can offer any input?
 
Tear down and planning has commenced! I’ve decided to use the Alpine 6x9s for the front stage. Reason #1 is simply because they come with grilles and the Infinity’s do not. So that’s one less thing I have to fabricate. Reason #2 is to see if I can get even just a little more bass out of this thing. So after lining everything up this is about where they’re going to sit.

View attachment 9151

Of course, like I said, nothing ever goes easy on this stupid car. So the factory grille isn’t quite as flat as it looks...
View attachment 9152

So this means some fiberglassing will be necessary unless someone knows of an easier way to mount a flat baffle to this slight curve. Either way there will be cutting. I don’t mind glassing but I really don’t enjoy doing it & the wife always complains about the smell.

The placement will also mean 2 mounting tabs/nuts will need to be cut but I believe the remaining 5 should hold it steady.

View attachment 9153

I’m also not sure why I decide to do these things when it’s freezing outside. Motivation is almost nonexistent but the nice thing is the car doesn’t move from Nov to Apr so it can spend months torn apart without the need to feel rushed. The next step will be cutting the baffles & factory grilles and getting that all lined up. Between my kid’s baseball practice today plus the Super Bowl it’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.

Until next time...
 
Fantastic car and build. I always wanted a corvette. My Dad was a mechanic and told me "son if you ever get a Corvette, you're own your own". They must have been a Pita to work on (C3).
 
They’re definitely not fun to work on. Just replacing the clutch on this was a 2 day job and that was for a professional mechanic. But, I’ll tell ya what... it sure does put a smile on my face when I romp the go-pedal.
 
The first Vette came out in ‘53 so the 40th would be a 93 and all of those are the mulberry purple color. 96 had the Collectors Edition which were all silver. The only thing that makes mine “special”, if you want to call it that, is that it has the LT4 Grand Sport motor. All that means is an additional 30hp & 10 ft/lbs because of the upgraded cam & heads vs the LT1. Mine did not come from the factory with the stripes or the ZR1 wheels. Those were added by the previous owner. It should be all black with the saw blade wheels. I have a thread in the Other Mods section detailing the car itself and some of my upgrades
 
Ok... I know it’s been a while since I’ve even looked at this car, so... now that I’m off work until further notice, I felt it was time to occupy my days before I drive my wife nuts. I’m going to try to get as much done as I can with stuff I already have laying around because as of today my county in PA is in mandatory stay home mode. Being that today was relatively warm & dry it was time to start tearing things apart.

Here you can see how the lovely 24yr old carpet didn’t fit properly or even stay in place like it was supposed to.
View attachment 9918View attachment 9919

So out comes the carpet and the panel that covers the ABS on the drivers side and the storage cubby on the passenger side. You can also see the current location of the amp in the cubby and the passive crossovers for the front speakers.
View attachment 9920View attachment 9921

Now to apply some Kilmat. I’m not sure it’ll even make a difference but I had it laying around & it was worth a try.
View attachment 9922

So, for a long time I’ve had this mirror laying around. I picked it up at Target probably 10 years ago because it was in the $1 sale section and I figured i could use it for SOMETHING at some point. And wouldn’t you know my amp & DSP will fit perfectly! And it fits the space in this car perfectly! Pardon the dust as it HAS been in my garage for 10 years or so.
View attachment 9923

So I made some ABS brackets to secure it using the factory bolts that held down the original cover panel. There’s 2 at the outside corners towards the front of the car & 2 that you can see located in the middle of the rear. Now with it mounted I can literally rock the whole car around just using that mirror. Nice & solid.
View attachment 9924View attachment 9925

That’s where I wrapped up today. I have to pace myself so I have work to occupy my time all week. I still also have to decide what I’m going to do for sub duty. I have 2 Dayton 6.5s currently and they do a VERY respectable job but I also have a pair of 8s (I believe they are generic MCM brand subs but, again, do quite well for what they are) OR I’m thinking about buying a slim-10. Once I decide on that, I can figure out an enclosure design.
 
Even though it was raining all day yesterday I tried to get a little more accomplished. I figured out how everything was going to go and proceeded to drill all the necessary holes for all the cables. Everything was moving along smoothly. I taped everything off and knew I’d have to go slow because of it being a mirror. Everything was going great and then...

View attachment 9947

GREAT, AWESOME, GRAND, EFF!!!

I then quit for the day so I could regroup and figure out a new plan of attack. So, today was a lot drier & warmer and I had a new plan. I traced the old mirror/brackets onto a sheet of 1/4” and test fitted. I decided to add walls to just the front & back, figuring the open ends should help with any cooling that may be necessary. Glued on some carpet and mounted everything down
View attachment 9948View attachment 9949View attachment 9950View attachment 9951

The next step will be to build the new sub box but the problem there is I’m out of wood... I should say useable wood. All of the pieces I have are, of course, too small to use for the enclosure top & bottom. I have enough to make the sides & port walls but that’s no bueno without a top & bottom. So now I’ll have to see if it’s possible to make a Depot run without violating the Stay Home law.

I did manage to try out the MCM 8s I have laying around in an old box. They sounded pretty good and it was a slight output increase from the current Dayton 6.5s. So I input the 8” enclosure info into WinISD & started playing around with different boxes for both the 8s and 6s. I managed to come up with a .75cf box tuned to 33Hz for the Daytons that will gain me about 4-5dB and a much lower F3 (10Hz or so) than the best box I could come up with for the 8s. This is gonna be interesting.
 
That stinks that the mirror cracked. Especially as it fit so perfectly in the space there.

TheTodd said:
So now I’ll have to see if it’s possible to make a Depot run without violating the Stay Home law.
Click to expand...

Been wondering the same thing with getting supplies if I go to Lowes for a few things.
 
Hello,
As a former 1990 Corvette owner, the first thing I would mention is to go to the Corvette Forum. they have an audio section w/ many builds, including my old one (same name).

As for some advice, The problem w/ good sound in a C4 Corvette is that the speakers are down on the floor. The first thing to do is to create pods for your tweeters, so that you can "raise" the sound

stage. If you are not sure how to do that, just do a search on CF, or over at DIYMA. The next thing is to move the midbass speakers up front. You can mount them Where you now have the tweeters. or cut a

hole in your door panels for them. Again, the best thing is to raise the sound stage.


You can then mount 8" subs in the rear speaker compartment. You will have to make speaker baffles for the sub's.

Please let me know if you have any questions.


https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threads/cheap-adjustable-easily-replaceable-tweeter-pods.53732/

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/audio-electronics/941281-c4-audio-faq.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forum...gning-my-c4-sound-system-advice-welcomed.html

Take a look through this. you can get some great ideas.

Randy
 
Last edited:
Thanks Randy, I agree with everything you mentioned... however... up until recently I was against putting any irreversible holes in my car. Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I get bored and change cars like most people change their socks. So I didn’t really want to go along and start tearing up the car just to have the next owner be upset they had to buy new parts to “restore” it. Even though my current mindset MAY change, I’m pretty sure I’m keeping this one for the long haul. So... the tweeters are already in pods which I will be mounting on the a-pillars hopefully using a small screw so as not to put too big of a hole in the trim just in case. I’m still trying to decide what to do for mid/midbass up front but hopefully that’ll get sorted out after some hands-on brainstorming this weekend. I also already had subs in the rear stock location but found it not to my liking so I’m building an actual enclosure to see how that works. I was actually pretty interested in your pod idea but none of the pics work. Trust me when I say I have been to the Corvette forums and looked at about every install I could find for inspiration or ideas. There just weren’t too many that wowed me.

My daily driver Malibu has my SQ system with custom pillars and an IB 15 (build log is on here somewhere) so I’m pretty well versed in what SHOULD be done, it just that this car really just needs to be loud enough to be heard over the exhaust while still being accurate. Staging, imaging and all that is more or less an afterthought. I’m honestly only using the DSP as a crossover and MAYBE doing some time delay but it really is just my fair weather fun toy.

After going back and proofreading this it kind of sounds like I’m coming of rather snooty but that is not how I mean it (and I’m just too lazy to go back and retype it). I really do appreciate any input so thanks for the ideas. Sometimes I just have a hard time doing what SHOULD be done the first time rather than the quick & easy way then redoing it again later.

I actually braved the Depot today (against stay at home orders) and got some more wood so the construction will continue tomorrow if all goes well and the weather cooperates.
 
All of the panels for the sub enclosure are cut. A few pieces are glued & clamped as I type. I should have most, if not all, the panels glued by tonight. Here’s the box with all the pieces just sitting together and test fitted in the car.

View attachment 9977View attachment 9978

I haven’t figure out yet if I want to face the ports forwards or backwards. Forwards, I fear that any port noise will be really noticeable because they’d be right behind your head AND I’d have to figure out something crafty so the amp cover panel doesn’t obstruct the port. Rearwards, they would theoretically “corner-load” as they’d be about 3” or so from the back wall & hopefully boost the output a bit.
 
This weekend was beautiful so I managed to get a LOT done. I’m waiting for a few select parts via Amazon but with any luck the physical install will be done by mid-end of this week.

I decided to go with the Infinity 6.5” coax speakers for the front as it was easier to make them fit with the supplies I had on hand.

View attachment 10000

The stock panel interferes a bit so a little trimming/customization was needed. I didn’t get a before of the drivers side but it was the same as the other.
View attachment 10001View attachment 10002View attachment 10003

The factory grille fits over it with no issues & you’d probably never know they were there. I also got the tweeters mounted on the pillars but as I knew would happen they look “off” to me because the 2 sides are not symmetrical. After everything is playing I’ll be able to tweak the aiming if necessary. I hope not as those things were a BITCH to remove.

View attachment 10004View attachment 10005

The sub box is assembled and ready to go. This week will also entail making the flush panels for the amp rack & sub box. Part of my Amazon shipment is more spray adhesive so when that gets here I can cover everything and she’ll be done. I can’t wait to hear this thing play.
 
Not sure how that last pic of me enjoying a cold beverage at my fire pit last night made it on there but... there’s a pic of me social distancing at my fire pit last night. Be safe everyone.
 
It’s in. It’s playing. And it ROCKS! I have the DSP bypassed for now until my Amazon shipment arrives but with a quick gain setting & EQ session its a HUGE improvement over the previous setup. These 6.5” Daytons are no slouch. I used the last of my spray adhesive on the sub enclosure so the rest will have to wait.

View attachment 10013
 
That's awesome, not sure if I will be hosting a meet here this year but if I do, hopefully you bring the Corvette down (or if you do end up hosting something at your place I'll head up there) :)
 
I’m not completely sure I’ll be in a position to have anything here as I’m currently under contract negotiations to sell my house. The wife & I are downsizing to a new build townhouse. Unfortunately, though, because of the stay-home order construction has halted so I’m not sure when it’s all going to happen. Our original timeframe was mid-June but now it’s more unknown. I can always head down your way though. I did read about you and Jason possibly “merging” GTGs. I did a search for the town he mentioned and it’s about 5hrs out so I could make that happen too. One way or another we’ll make something happen.
 
Looks good, dude. I wish I could hear it. How does it sound with the roof off?

Need some more pictures, I would like to see the dash pods and the amp rack when you get done.
 
I have no idea how it sounds with the roof off. I haven’t had a chance to even drive it, let alone take the roof off. In all honesty I may never know. In the almost 3 years I’ve had the car the roof has been off only once and it was an experience I wasn’t really thrilled with.

I made the trim for the sub box yesterday but ran out of wood again to do the one for the amp rack. As soon as I can make another Home Depot run I’ll get that made but I’m still waiting for my spray adhesive from Amazon to ship to apply carpet. The pods, though, are just surface mounted tweeters so there’s not much to see there but I can get more pics if you want. I’ll take a few more pics when I’m completely done though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top